No. 24 Kentucky Takes Down No. 45 Vanderbilt, 4-3

NASHVILLE – The No. 24 Kentucky men’s tennis team took down No. 45 Vanderbilt, 4-3, at the Currey Tennis Center on Thursday night. UK improves to 13-8 overall and 4-4 in the Southeastern Conference while Vandy falls to 10-11 and 1-7 in the league.

“Winning ugly is part of our sport,” head coach Cedric Kauffmann said. “It is never easy to win on the road in the SEC. I am proud that we dug deep in the doubles to get the point. The wind took our games away a little, but we have to adjust our footwork and targets better than that. Nils (Ellefsen), Enzo (Wallart) and Trey (Yates) have had a really good couple of matches. They are confident and fighting hard. I know Beck (Pennington), Will (Bushamuka) and Ryo (Matsumura) will bounce back Saturday against Florida, which will be a big match. We will need everyone to step up their game.”

Kentucky jumped out in front with the doubles point. After the No. 27 duo of Beck Pennington and Enzo Wallart fell to No. 39 Lachlan McPhee and Billy Rowe, 6-0, UK battled back. Gus Benson and Trey Yates beat Daniel Valent and Baker Newman, 6-3 to even the battle. No. 77 Will Bushamuka and Nils Ellefsen came from behind to beat Pen Binet and Panu Virtanen, 7-6 (7-3) to give UK an early 1-0 advantage.

The first singles match to finish was in the No. 4 spot, where No. 113 Ellefsen breezed past Lachlan McPhee, 6-3, 6-3. Ellefsen improves to 14-4 this season, and is 13-4 as the No. 4 singles player.

Vanderbilt answered back when Billy Rowe defeated Pennington, 6-4, 7-5. The Commodores tied the match at 2-2 when Baker Newman defeated No. 24 Matsumura, 6-4, 7-5. 

The Wildcats pulled back ahead when Wallart took down Alex Ross, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. Wallart improves to 8-6 individually this season, and is now 5-3 in the No. 6 hole.

Rain hit and forced the rest of the match to be played inside. Shortly after, Yates clinched the win for the Wildcats with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory over Panu Virtanen at the No. 5 singles spot. Yates improved 10-6 this season and is currently on a four-match winning streak.

Even though the Cats had clinched the win, No. 17 Bushamuka played out his match. He fell in a tight 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5) contest to Daniel Valent. 

For more information on the Kentucky men’s tennis team, follow @UKMensTennis on Twitter or Kentucky Men’s Tennis Team on Facebook. 

Tennis Match Results

Kentucky vs Vanderbilt

Mar 30, 2017 at Nashville, Tenn.

(Currey Tennis Center)

#24 Kentucky 4, #45 Vanderbilt 3

1. Daniel Valent (VANDY) def. #17 Will Bushamuka (UK) 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5)

2. Baker Newman (VANDY) def. #24 Ryotaro Matsumura (UK) 6-4, 7-5

3. Billy Rowe (VANDY) def. Beck Pennington (UK) 6-4, 7-5

4. #113 Nils Ellefsen (UK) def. Lachlan McPhee (VANDY) 6-3, 6-3

5. Trey Yates (UK) def. Panu Virtanen (VANDY) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4

6. Enzo Wallart (UK) def. Alex Ross (VANDY) 7-6 (7-3), 6-4

1. #39 Lachlan McPhee/Billy Rowe (VANDY) def. #27 Beck Pennington/Enzo Wallart (UK) 6-0

2. #77 Will Bushamuka/Nils Ellefsen (UK) def. Pen Binet/Panu Virtanen (VANDY) 7-6 (7-3)

3. Gus Benson/Trey Yates (UK) def. Daniel Valent/Baker Newman (VANDY) 6-3

Match Notes:

Order of finish: Doubles (1,3,2); Singles (4,3,2,6,5,1)